Primeval Thule
“Before the great glaciers covered the northern world for the last time, there was a place steeped in legends lost to the modern age.
'Tis the doomed land of Thule, of savagery and spectacle, of abject wonders and terrors from here and beyond. Alas, the antediluvian cycles presage Her doom. But for one splendid moment—one mere echo in the chamber of time—the heroes and villains of this tragic land struggle and strive against the end of Her tales.
Buried and told nevermore, these are the Tales From Thule....”
Introduction
Thule belonged to Earth in a time now shrouded in mystery; a world where legendary creatures and places once existed, and magic—dark and mysterious—held power over a younger and more superstitious humankind.
This lush continent emerged after the end of a long winter whose beginning none can recall. Then summer came crashing, leading to a meltdown of the global ice sheets which caused the Great Flood: a worldwide deluge chronicled in the oldest lore of every people. Regardless of whether it was a reckoning of the gods, or a mere inconvenience of chaos, it cleansed the old world. This was
the same flood that sank Atlantis—heart of the empire that ruled the previous age—and provoked her lost successors and
enemies to find the dry-lands that remained. Crowned by mighty mountains, Thule stood high among them and showed promise to the promised. Ever since the meltwater ebbed from its glimmering shores, over a millennium of years has passed here, wherein civilizations have risen and fallen.
Whether as ancient natives or refugees of calamity, many creatures are now found in Thule... many older and far stranger than humankind. Cunning nature spirits and savage beastmen rove the wildernesses, competing with human tribes for primacy in the circle of life and death. Terrible mutants spawned of antediluvian science lurk near and far. At dark, alien starspawn visit from worlds beyond, their objectives inscrutable. And wherever the civilized may look away, the agents of primordial chaos are manifest. From this mythical time, we draw our oldest stories of a cruel landscape, home to untold dangers and the bold adventurers who dare challenge them.
Seven Characteristics of Thule
The world of Thule is home to a distinctive set of cities, ruins, monsters, and peoples. Its landscape and history tell vivid sagas full of riveting adventure and deadly danger. But, more importantly, Thule has a personality of her own, with characteristics that set the world apart from other fantasy settings.
1. Humankind Is Barbaric
Young ancestries make up humankind, and their civilizations are not yet well established. Many people live in tribal societies close to nature—and its dangers. Even within the walls of the city-states, life is often violent and unforgiving. The so-called civilized peoples entertain themselves with bloody arena fights, and practices such as robbery, dueling, and assassinations are commonplace. Life is all too often nasty, brutish, and short, regardless of whether one lives in a jungle village or an opulent palace.
Since Atlantis fell, engineering, knowledge, and technology in Thule are likewise not very advanced. Writing is known only to sages, orders of scribes, and those few people wealthy enough to afford an education. When stone and ivory are not enough, the best arms and armor are usually made of bronze, iron, and (rarely) crucible steel. The temples and monuments of the great cities are raised by hordes of laborers—many of them enslaved—using archaic tools and techniques.
2. The Wilds Are Savage
Leave the safety of a city's walls, and you’re taking your life in your hands. There are few roads here, as the wilds are teeming with hostile creatures and terrain. The untamed flora and fauna of Thule belong to a callous, primitive age. This is the time of the giant carnivores, with beasts such as cave bears, giant vipers, and saber-tooth cats. Even the herbivores are huge and short-tempered—woolly mammoths and giant sloths can be every bit as dangerous to humans as the big predators.
Some tribal peoples of the wilderness are just as feral as the beasts whose homes they share. The worst tribes are unspeakably vicious and bloodthirsty—headhunters, cannibals, or degenerate primitives—they often worship aberrant idols or monstrosities, and eagerly torture or sacrifice any who fall into their grasps. The most well known and spited of these kinds are the beastmen—savage hybrids of human and animal—who are as warlike as the former and territorial as the latter.
Of course, not all rural tribes are so incredibly deviant or debased. Many Thulean tribes dwell near or within the wildernesses only because few can afford the sanctuary of megalithic walls. To keep their remote villages safe, many have struck cruel yet viable accords with the Beastlords: the primeval intermediaries between the wild and the tamed, whose wisdom and intellect rivals even the most civilized persons. These tribal cultures are steeped in their own traditions and laws, holding a balance between the spoiled decadence of the city-dwellers and the utter chaos of the beastmen—both viewed as cursed fates afforded to those who offend the mighty wills of the Beastlords.
3. The Cities Are Wicked Places
The wilderness is dangerous, but civilization isn't exactly better, if not worse. The city-states are dens of greed, crime, and callousness. Powerful guilds of criminals and mercenaries dominate many of Thule’s cities, struggling endlessly with rival guilds for territory and influence. Secret cults dedicated to forbidden gods may lurk in the shadows until it is time to strike. Slavery is widespread.
Often, the rich and endearing pursue constant intrigues that bring themselves closer to powerful and luxurious positions. All the while, the underclass simmers in unrest and resentment, not just against the elites but within the divisions sowed among themselves. Heavy-handed oppression is a typical response from the civic authorities, be they middle-class hoplites, militant cultists, enthralled legionnaires, or gold-thirsty sellswords under the employ of corrupt eminences.
4. The World Is Mysterious
Thule and its neighboring islands are largely uncharted. Vast forests and forbidding mountains and glaciers deter all but the hardiest and most determined travelers. Sedentary peoples rarely know what is more than a few days’ travel from their homes, while nomads hardly stay in one place long enough to attract unfamiliar dangers.
Therein hides many secrets: abandoned cities, strongholds of inhuman powers, foul temples, isolated tribes, and hidden lands ruled by obscene monstrosities. Any of these dangers might be waiting in the next valley over. Many of these places are unique and unrecorded—cities belonging to peoples untold of, ruins whose builders are lost to history, rare terrors that exist nowhere else in the world. In Thule, one should be prepared for anything.
5. Humans Weren't Meant To Know Magic
Humans dabble in supernatural powers at their peril. Arcane learning is fantastically ancient, predating the rise of humankind. The few known manuscripts on arcane lore come only from prehuman civilizations. This ancient knowledge is dangerous in the extreme, and the most likely outcome of taking up arcane studies is a horrible and grisly doom. Few mages die of old age.
Cult magic is not quite as dangerous, but it is still rare. Most priests and acolytes have no magical training at all and master only the doctrines and everyday prayers of their faiths. Priests initiated into the cult secrets of their god’s magic are usually rare individuals who belong to mysterious and confidential cabals. The gods' true motives are inscrutable, and their zealous cultists jealously guard access to their power.
Because magic is such a dark and esoteric field of study, users of magic are rare. Even the largest settlements of the Vrilerinnen are home to no more than a handful of adepts, and those individuals are feared and whispered about far and wide. Enchanted swords and magical treasures are similarly rare—most people have never seen a magic item and would likely fear or shun anyone they knew to possess one.
6. Ancient Rivals Threaten Humankind
The reign of humankind is new and fragile. Older races of beastmen, troglodytes, giants, mutants, and so forth lurk in many fell places across Thule. Their realms and kingdoms may have fallen into ruin, but these ancient terrors still dream of reclaiming what was once theirs.
Worse yet, the old races were not the first to inhabit Thule. The further back one travels, the more horrible and aberrant the ruling powers of the world become. Before the Atlantean Empire, or the shapings of Lemuria and Hyperborea, the world was dominated by innumerable horrors such as starspawn, primordial oozes, and elementals. And there are the Great Old Ones—entities as old as the Earth itself, if not older—lying dormant or imprisoned in the desolate places of the world. Such aberrations are utterly indifferent to the existence of humans, but others crave human minions and worship. Human tribes and cities that stumble into contact with these ancient powers may be destroyed or enslaved in horrid, inexplicable ways.
7. Freebooters, Mercenaries, Opportunists
This is an age of bold, brawling, larger-than-life heroes. Adventurers are defined by their ambitions; they may hunger for gold or glory, power or survival. Great causes or noble crusades are all very well, but most of Thule’s itinerant adventurers are in it to get paid or to prove their own worth. If there are no rumors of treasure waiting to be found, or other opportunities seem thin on the ground, a hero is likely to move on in search of brighter prospects—or concoct a scheme to win wealth or fame from someone who isn’t worthy of it.
Of course, adventurers sometimes find themselves in dangerous situations that offer no particular reward other than survival. Even the most jaded mercenary recognizes that fighting their way out of a beastman's stewpot or fending off a slaver raid is necessary, even if there are no valuables to be gained.